


Precious Thing

by magicalmolly



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: F/M, Lust, Romance, Slow Burn, deams, post fic, sex scenes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:20:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26263297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magicalmolly/pseuds/magicalmolly
Summary: Takes place six years after the night Sarah Williams spent in The Goblin King's Labyrinth:Sarah Williams is zoning out in one of her college classes when she sees a crystal ball float by her classroom window. She follows it back to a world and a man she never thought she'd see again.But it is Sarah who poses the challenge to Jareth this time.The prize?Her heart.(this fic is for my friend Mar <3)
Relationships: Jareth & Sarah Williams, Jareth/Sarah Williams
Comments: 25
Kudos: 120





	1. Maids heard the Goblins’ cry

**Author's Note:**

> “You must promise to never come back.”
> 
> “Never is an awfully long time.”
> 
> —Peter Pan

_I move the stars for no one._

But he did for me.

“Sarah!” A voice hisses beside me. 

I snap my eyes open and sit up. I had only meant to rest my head on my desk for just a moment. I’m so tired. Haven’t slept well in weeks. The night terrors have returned. I turn to look at Chloe, we’re sitting in the back of the lecture hall, which is full of 100+ students so it isn’t likely my brief slumber has been noticed, but Chloe is a goody-two-shoes and any rule-breaking makes her nervous. But this isn’t high school, this is a required gen-ed; it’s physical education lecture seminar for crying out loud. The professor doesn’t even want to be here.

“Sorry,” I mumble. What I want to say is _Shut the fuck up and let me sleep,_ but I’m not in the mood to argue.

Chloe nods firmly as if she’s just won a great battle and turns back to face the front of the room, soon she begins scribbling notes again. I roll my eyes at her diligence to something so meaningless and then settle my sights out the window. I allow my eyes to glaze over and zone out, not as restful as sleep but mind-wandering can be less stressful than existing in the present moment. 

I’m bored. Boredom has always been my weakness. When the ADHD diagnoses came at the end of high school no one was really surprised. But the Vivance they prescribed me killed my appetite and caused my hands to shake so I’d had to resort to coping mechanisms to keep my focus. If it was a topic I was passionate about I could hone in no problem. If it was something I held no interest in, that was another story entirely. And this god forsaken gym lecture is of so little interest to me that any hope of paying attention is a lost cause.

_I wish I was anywhere but here right now._ That sentence repeats itself over and over again in my mind as I gaze out the window. I don’t know how long I’m staring before I notice the crystal.

It’s floating along the patch of lawn outside the humanities building we’re currently in, bobbing along like Glinda’s bubble. I keep expecting it to get bigger and pop to reveal a witch clad in a pink taffeta dress. But of course that doesn’t happen, it just continues to bob along, glints of rainbow light reflecting off its perfectly clear surface. I should really be more concerned about this, I’m realizing. I glance around the lecture hall to see if any other students have noticed, but even if they did they would probably write it off as a big soap bubble blown by someone outside. The semester is almost over, people are anxious, it wouldn’t be shocking if kids were outside stoned and blowing bubbles as a form of entertainment.

But as exhausted as I may be right now, I’m not stoned, and I will never forget the sight of those crystals for as long as I live. 

I watch it bob over to the window, spin a bit, and then float off. 

_Fuck it._

I grab my bag and the notebook that I never opened off my desk and head for the door. Chloe hisses after me but I ignore her. I make my way outside, backpack hitched over one shoulder, and begin to hunt for the crystal. I have to squint against the sun but I spot it soon enough. It’s floating further ahead of me. I don’t hesitate. I run.

No one pays me much attention as I dart across campus; they probably just think I’m late for class. I follow the crystal across the entire length of the campus and out onto the city streets. I panic for a moment, afraid I’ll lose it in the crowd, but it’s actually easier to spot against the dark colored coats and asphalt. I grin and take off after it.

I shove and bump and crash into various passerby and some cuss, some shake their heads but most just grumble and barrel right past me. This is New York, no one is going to be phased by a girl chasing a magic orb in the sky. Weirder things have happened.

It bobs down an alley and for a split second I hesitate. _Use your brain, Sarah._ My rational self chides me internally. _This is the plot of a bad fan fiction waiting to happen._

But then the irrational side speaks up louder. _Go. What do you have to lose?  
_I turn and race down the alley but the orb is gone. I stop in my tracks, letting my backpack slump to the ground. Did I imagine it? Am I going crazy? Or…

“Am I dreaming?” I whisper softly to the empty alleyway.

“No, Sarah. You are not.”

I spin around and there he is. The Goblin King. He looks exactly the same as he did last I saw him. In a room with eschar-like stairs surrounded by infinitely starry skies.

“ _You_ ,” I breathe.

He smirks. “Me,” he taunts back. 

He begins to slowly approach me and I fight the urge to back away. _I_ followed the crystal here so why am I nervous now? What did I think it was leading me to? Didn’t I want this? What _do_ I want? I don’t know. And that’s been the problem all along hasn’t it? 

In the middle of my internal argument with myself he has closed out the remaining space between us and now stands right in front of me, towering over me, his sharp blue eyes gleaming down at me.

“Tell me, Sarah,” he says in a voice that has no right to be so melodious, “have you missed me?”  


How on earth am I supposed to answer that question? Half the time I’ve wondered if that night ever happened. Sometimes I’ve asked myself why I didn’t stay. And then gotten mad at myself for asking such a ridiculous question. But as frightening and as stressful as that night had been, it had also been (and still remained) the most thrilling night of my life. It’s been six years since the night I spent in the Labyrinth. Six years since I stood before The Goblin King. I never thought I’d see him again. I’ve battled with if I ever _wanted_ to see him again. 

“Sarah, dear,” his voice pulls me back from my reeling thoughts. “I asked you a question. Did you not hear me?”  


“Yes,” I say.

He cocks his head in confusion? “Yes…you did not hear me?”

“Yes, I missed you.” I clarify, trying to sound confident in my reply, but in reality I feel a riot of butterfly wings in my stomach. 

He wasn’t expecting that reply it seems. He stands a bit straighter. I wait for him to ask another question but instead he holds his hand up in the air before us and the crystal appears in between his fingers. “I’ve brought you a gift, Sarah.”

Before I can say anything, the image dancing inside the crystal spins and begins to spill out, colors swirling into the alley. The alley itself begins to twist and fade. Our surroundings change. We’re no longer in New York City. We’re in a large room. In a castle. In the Underground. I gasp softly, spinning around frantically and look back at him. He’s gone. I gasp again and continue to spin around like an idiot. 

“Do relax, Sarah.” I turn towards a window on the far side of the long room. He’s there, perched on the ledge, another crystal dancing across his knuckles. “After all, you said you missed me.”

“That does not mean the same thing as ‘kidnap me.’”

He makes the crystal vanish as his head snaps up to look at me. His gaze fiery. He stands up and I expect him to stride over to me as he did just moments ago in the alley. But he doesn’t. Instead he crooks one single finger forward and beckons me to him. For a moment I remain still. But in the end I relent and walk over to him. I stop a few feet away so that we’re not nearly as close to each other as we were in the alley.

“Kidnapping is for children, Sarah,” he says. He finally stands and approaches me, but he doesn’t stop before me, instead he circles around me slowly. I feel like I’m in the middle of a cliche hunter and prey metaphor. I guess I am. “You’re not a child anymore, Sarah. Isn’t that right.”

I turn my head to the side to catch his gaze as he circles me yet again. When my eyes latch onto his he freezes beside me. Our bodies just a small breadth apart now.

“No,” I say. “I’m not.”  


I barely have time to blink before he lunges forward, closing out the tiny bit of remaining space, and takes my face in his hands, bringing his mouth down to mine. I cry out in shock against his lips. He reaches his hands back slightly to knot his fingers in my long hair and I press my palms flat against his chest, stumbling backwards in shock, but he just holds onto me tighter. His mouth moves possessively against mine and my body goes rigid as my mind begins to race. 

_Shut up._ I tell my spinning thoughts. _Make a decision._

But of course he makes it for me. He breaks the kiss and pulls away. His hands still tangled in my hair. His eyes piercing into me. 

“Did you,” I whisper, “…miss _me_?”  


“Sarah,” he says, his voice almost like a growl. He pushes me backwards until I’m pressed up against the stone wall. “Don’t you remember?” He asks. “Fear me. Love me. Do as I say and I will be your slave.”  


I feel myself shiver at those words. Six years. Six long years those words replayed over and over again in my mind. I never thought I’d hear them again. I thought if I did they would terrify me. _You have no power over me,_ I’d told him. I think of his floating crystal in the New York City sky. Like Glinda’s bubble. What did she say to Dorothy? _You had the power within you all along, my dear._  


“I remember,” I whisper.

He dips his head down even closer, his lips just barely grazing my own. “Well,” he murmurs against my mouth. “Do you wish to choose differently now than you did back then?”

I did and I did not. Choosing differently, giving him what he wanted, meant defeat of a kind. I would no longer be the champion of the Labyrinth if I conceded to the fate The Goblin King had decided all along. But if I chose the same, denied his power, I would feel empty. As I have all these years.

The Labyrinth had been terrifying, his eyes had been fierce and frightening. His presence had been looming. His touch had been chilling. But it had all also been invigorating. I felt insatiable. I had been offered my dreams and had denied them. He would’ve sent Toby back regardless. He had never wanted him. He had always wanted me. He fought for me before—in a sick and twisted fashion—and he had lost. What would the fight look like this time if I chose to challenge him to one?

“Is this,” I ask, “how the story is meant to end? The girl in the goblin’s arms?”

He leans in even closer so that his lips are a breadth away from mine. “Yes,” he hisses.

_Fear me. Love me. Do as I say and I will be your slave._

Paradoxical. Perfect. That’s what he was. What he had always been.

“Sarah,” he whispers in my ear, “I used to think that you were something truly remarkable? Was I wrong?” 

_I am the champion of the Labyrinth. The winning advisary of The Goblin King. I am the most remarkable thing to ever walk these halls._

“No,” I breathe. “You’re not wrong.”  


“Then make your choice.”

He pulls back to meet my gaze again. His eyes burn straight through me. He takes a step back. I see the heartbreak on his face. He thinks he knows how this story ends. How I can’t wait to prove him wrong.

This time it’s me who closes out the space between us. I stop a few feet in front of him. He looks down at me, trying to hide the longing in his eyes behind an intimidating visage. Once it was perfectly crafted to scare me. Now, now I can see him. _Crystal_ clear.

I gently place a hand on his chest. He looks down at where my palm lays flat against him, surprise slowly spreading across his face. He drags his gaze back up to mine. “Sarah,” he whispers.

I step even closer to him, our chests are just barely touching. I look up at him, I smile. “My will is as strong as yours,” I say softly. “And my kingdom as great.”

I take a small step back, dropping my hand from his chest. “I choose differently this time,” I say. “But you must come and get me to find out.”  
He raises and eyebrow in confusion. 

I turn and race from the room.

I head for the Labyrinth. 


	2. I have no heart? Perhaps I have not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll be there for you, when the world falls down."
> 
> -When the World Falls Down (Labyrinth 1986)

As I race to the Labyrinth I can hear Jareth’s laugh in my mind; melodious, taunting, intoxicating. _Focus_ I tell myself. This will work. It _has_ to work. I weave down hall after hall. I can’t even find my way out of the castle when it occurs to me. _Use your right words, you idiot._

“I wish I was in the Labyrinth,” I whisper, and sure enough I suddenly am. I smile to myself. The memories of that long ago night come rushing back. The thrill I felt every time I made a right choice (though every right choice usually ended up being a wrong one in the end).

_Sarah, this is tiresome._

I hear his voice in my head and spin around; there’s nothing but stone walls and twisting curves as far as the eyes can see. He doesn’t know where I am yet because I haven’t wished him to. 

_Come and find me._

I hear him chuckle. I smirk. If he knows my heart then he will find me. If he doesn’t…then I will have to finally let this go. That thought pains me. I run away, hoping to leave it behind.

* * *

I run for so long, so far, until I reach a garden I hadn’t found last time. In the center of the garden is a large, luscious tree, rife with ripe peaches. I smile. I climb bough after bough of the tree until I’m balanced on a branch as high as I can go. I see a peach that glows in a way none of the rest do. I inch out on the branch and reach for it, but a black gloved-hand snatches it right before I can. I gasp and loose my footing. I open my mouth to cry out, about to fall down, down, down. But an arm wraps itself firmly around my waist and pulls me back. With another gasp I’m chest to chest with Jareth, my back pressed up against the trunk of the peach tree.

His eyes glimmer. He holds the peach up between us. “Looking for this, precious?”  


I narrow my eyes at him, fighting back a smile. “I don’t take fruit from strange men anymore,” I say. “It got me into a world of trouble last I did.”  


He holds the peach up just in front of my mouth and speaks in a low, husky voice. “Oh no, Sarah. What got you in trouble was running away. Don’t you remember?” He waves the peach back and forth before me like it’s one of his crystals. My eyes can’t help but transfix on it. “We were having such a marvelous time that night. You looked so _breathtaking._ You just had to go and wake up and spoil all the fun.”  


I feel short of breath. I tear my gaze away from the peach only to land on his fixed stare. I inhale sharp and soft. “You had my brother.”

“Oh come, Sarah. You knew I never wanted your baby brother.”  


“What did you want?”  


He raises a teasing eyebrow at me. He holds the peach out closer again, my lips nearly brush against its fuzzy, soft, sweet surface. “Take a bite, my dear, and find out.”  


In such a small amount of time I’m so far gone from chasing a glowing orb down city streets. I move my head forward the tiniest bit, open my mouth and bite down on the peach. I feel the juice begin to drip down my chin. I move to wipe the juices away with the back of my hand but Jareth catches my wrist in his, stopping me. He moves forward, gently, delicately, and licks the curve of my jaw, drinking up the droplets of peach juice. I gasp from the sensation of his tongue. He shifts forward still, his arm still holding me in place against the tree trunk. He presses himself against me and I bite my lip to keep from moaning. 

“Do you need another bite, Sarah?” He murmurs in my ear. “Or do you have your answer?”  


I open my mouth to speak but I can’t find any right words. He chuckles melodiously in my ear then pulls back abruptly. I nearly whimper from the loss of him so suddenly. He holds the peach up before me once more. 

“I said, do you need another bite? Or, darling Sarah, do you have your answer?”  


I reach out and pluck the peach from his hand. I toss it across his shoulder, away into the Labyrinth. He smiles. 

“I know what I want,” I say.

He presses into me again, but he doesn’t move his mouth to my neck, he keeps his eyes trained on mine. “And what is that?” His voice has become raspy with want.

I tentatively reach my hands up to cup his face in my hands. The tenderness of my touch startles him the slightest bit and I see the smallest hint of fear in his eyes. I am almost too human for him to bear. My heart as easily bruised as the fruit we stand amongst.

“Just love me,” I whisper. “I will do as you say.”

He smiles then, his telltale goblin smirk that is more intoxicating than the finest glass of wine. He moves forward once more, his lips meeting my own, the sweet tang of the peach passing between our tongues. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new chapter next week :)


	3. Then joining hands to little hands  Would bid them cling together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oh, Elisabeth, when will you be selfish?"
> 
> -Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

We’re no longer in the orchard but back in the ornate stone room from earlier. A perfect circle of events leading me back here to him.

I step back to look into his eyes. They’re fierce. Same as they were the first time I looked into them. They’re as wanting as they had been the last time he looked at me all those years ago, but now there’s something else in them, too. A hunger. A desire. A flame that’s burning brighter than the stars.

“Sarah,” he says, his voice practically a growl. “Come here.”  


I step towards him again and let him snake his hand around to cup the back of my neck. His fingers press gently into my skin, the pressure is gentle, but it’s enough to cause butterflies to begin to stir in my stomach. 

“I always wished I’d see you again.”  


“I’m the one who’s meant to wish,” I say.

He smiles the smile of a mischievous goblin-man. 

“Then wish, my dear.”  


He wraps his other hand around my wait until it comes to press against the small of my back. He tugs me toward him and I stumble further into his embrace. I want to tell myself that this is wrong, that he is the enemy. But I see now that he never was. I had never needed to run the Labyrinth. I could’ve told him what I wanted—what I _wished for—_ right there in my brother’s bedroom on that night that now seems so faraway. He _knew_ that I hadn’t meant my words. I never wanted Toby to be the one who was taken away. Jareth and I had known all along that it _me_ who longed for something else—something _more_. I just hadn’t had the nerve to wish myself away to something greater than the mortal world. I had responsibilities and expectations. By pushing my wish off on Toby I had gotten to have a taste of another world without letting myself succumb to it. I had never been brave enough to be selfish.

Until now.

“I wish,” I said softly, staring into his eyes, the butterflies rioting in my stomach, “that you would kiss me again.”

He smirks. “Is that all, Sarah?” I shake my head. He leans down and presses his cheek to mine. He drags his fingers up my spine and then along the column of my throat. I shiver. He chuckles softly in my ear. “What else do you wish for?”

“ _You.”_

He’s the one who pulls back this time. He looks into my eyes again. “ _Sarah_.”

“Jareth.” I can see the affect his name on my tongue has on him. It undoes him. _I_ smile this time. “I wish for you.”

He practically shudders with obvious relief and then his mouth is on mine again. His arms wrapping around me, his hands sliding down under my thighs to lift me up. I instinctively wrap my legs around him as he carries me over to the large, four poster bed with a ruby-red blanket and a tall lace canopy above. He lays me down as gently as if I were made of glass. He stands above me, just staring down at me.

“What?” I say, suddenly growing self-conscious.

“Sit up,” he commands. I obey. He moves closer to me, still towering above, and reaches out his hands. He grabs the hem of my shirt and without thinking I lift my arms so that he can pull it off. He stops and stares at me, bare from the waist up save for my bra. His eyes travel up my body and meet my gaze once again. Instinctively I reach out for his hand. He holds on tight as he tugs me forward so that I’m standing again. I inch towards him until our bodies are pressed up against one another. 

“Jareth,” I whisper. He practically growls as he wraps his arms around me, pressing me as close to him as he can. 

“Yes?” He says as he kisses my neck. 

I press my palms flat against his chest as I feel him bite my shoulder—hard. I can’t help but let a soft mewl escape my mouth from the intensity. He chuckles softly, sounding amused. “Jareth,” I whisper again, my mind reeling. I press against his chest harder to sturdy myself and tilt my head back to look into his eyes again. 

“Yes?” He says again, his voice softer this time.

“Undress me.”


	4. Of sugar-baited words: Not for all her watching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I'll paint you mornings of gold  
> I'll spin you Valentine evenings  
> Though we're strangers till now  
> We're choosing the path  
> Between the stars."
> 
> -Labyrinth (1986)

Jareth pulls back for just a moment. “Sarah,” he says in a low, wanton voice. “You precious thing.”

“I mean it,” I say firmly.

He hesitates no longer. He drops his hands down to my waist and begins to unbutton and unzip my jeans. He drops to his knees before me and slowly drags them down my body so that I can step out of them. He stands back up and takes in the sight of me wearing nothing but my bra and underwear. “Sarah,” he says again. He reaches his hands out and grabs ahold of my hips. “You’re stunning.”  


I can’t help but smile. I step forward and wrap my hands around his neck and move on tiptoe to kiss him. His lips taste sweet like peaches against my own. I feel him slide his gloved-hands down my back and unhook my bra, I shift away a bit shyly to slip my arms out of the straps and let it fall to the floor. I’m now practically completely bare and he’s still entirely clothed. I reach out for his hands, holding them tight, my fingers pressing against the leather of his gloves.

“Touch me,” I say. “Really, touch me.”  
His eyes have an intoxicating, dizzying glint to them. He smiles that mischievous grin of his that has haunted me all these years. “Take them off for me, darling.”

I hold his gaze as I slowly tug his gloves off. His hands are ice against my own. He moves them from my own and reached out to touch me once more. His bare, icy skin against my own sends electricity throughout my bones. I inhale softly as he presses his hand around the column of my throat, stepping in closer to me again. He brings another hand up to trail down my chest, between my collarbones and then places his fingers lightly on my breast, cupping it in his hand. He kisses me as he begins to caress me and I can’t help it, I moan.  He growls in response and pulls me against him. I can feel the pressure of him through his clothes and the last thin piece of fabric covering me. He squeezes lightly around my throat as his other hand moves from my breast down to my waist again. He hooks a finger in the waistband of my underwear and begins to push them aside. I stiffen a bit. He notices.

“Sarah,” he groans in my ear, moving the hand from my throat to slide around my back and hold my firmly against him. “Let me touch you.”  


I relax a bit in his arms. This is what I have always wanted and never dared let myself even dream of one day getting. This is the darkness I’ve always sought. The attention I’ve always craved. _He_ is who I’ve always wanted. “Okay,” I whisper.

He kisses my neck as tugs my underwear to the side and moves two fingers inside me. I tilt my head back and moan softly from the exquisite pleasure the soft pressure brings. He practically growls as he bites down on my shoulder in response to my moan. He continues to hold me firmly with one hand while using the other to play me like a violin, plucking a beautiful melody into tune within me. 

“ _Jareth,”_ I whisper as I begin to reach the peak of his affections.

He kisses my collarbone and then licks the length of my throat as his fingers undo me and I practically collapse in his arms. He catches me as my knees begin to buckle from the intensity of it all. 

“Darling,” he murmurs in my ear as he holds me now. “I want more.”  


I get my footing back and stand to face him. Our eyes lock onto one another’s and in them I can see everything he’s never told me. _He loves me._ It is so obvious. So crystal clear. How did I not see this before? How did I not see what was right there for me? The answer to my wishes; the soul to see me when no one else did. 

I reach out for his vest and slowly undo the buttons. He lets me slide it off his shoulders and then I untuck his flowing white shirt from his grey trousers and he lifts his arms so that I can lift it over his head. I try not to let myself get distracted by his bare chest as I reach for the waist of his pants. He catches my hands as I do. 

“Be certain now, Sarah.”  


The icy sting of his bare hands against me is still jarring, and wonderful. “You want more?” I whisper. He nods, tightening his grip on my hands. He tugs, pulling me close, forcing my hands up between us so that he holds me prisoner. 

“Yes,” he hisses, his eyes never leaving mine. “I want more.”  


“Then take it.”

He doesn’t hesitate this time. He picks me up and carries me over to the bed and practically throws me down as he lands on top of me. “I’ve wanted this for so long,” he murmurs as he pins my hands above my head and dips his head down to kiss my neck. 

I gasp as he moves his kisses lower and lower. “You have?” 

He takes my left nipple inbetween in teeth and grazes the skin slightly, but enough to make me hiss and arch my back, only pressing myself further against him. He moves a hand down to grip the back of my thigh as he moves his mouth to my other breast. 

“Yes, darling,” he says. “Ever since I first saw you.”

“That night?”  


He pulls back and props himself up so that he’s looking down at me. “Come now, Sarah,” he says gently. “You knew we’d met before then.” I say nothing. He chuckles softly at my silence. “I always enjoyed your plays in the park. You are quite the actress.”  


“That” I breathe out in shock, “was you? The owl?”

He dips down and claims my mouth with his own once more and I gladly let him. When we break the kiss he pulls away just enough so that he can gaze into my eyes again. “Yes, it was always me. And I always wanted you.”

“Why didn’t you come take me away sooner?”  


His expression flickers for a moment, the briefest hint of sadness washing over him, but it is gone just as quickly as it appeared. “You never said your right words.”

I shift a bit, wriggling one of my hands free so that I can reach up and press my palm against his cheek. I can see hi relax into my touch. “Let me say them now then.” His eyes grow wide, and I smile. “Jareth,” I say softly, “Goblin King, take me.”


	5. Dear you should not stay so late. Twilight is not good for maidens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You are the monster I choose."
> 
> -Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

The Goblin King grins down at me, his willing prey, and claims my mouth with his own once again. I open my mouth to let him in, moaning freely as I feel his hands move down my stomach, between my legs and back inside me. I tilt my hips up to move against him, and he grinds against me in turn. He deftly does away with his grey trousers until there is nothing between us, just his electrifying skin against mine. 

“Jareth,” I gasp as we move against one another. “I’ve never…”

He dips his mouth back down by my ear, nipping at my earlobe. “Relax, precious thing, I won’t hurt you.” 

And I believe him. So when he retracts his fingers and positions himself between my legs I spread myself as wide as I can to let him in. He thrusts into me slowly, slowly, slowly. And I cry out at first, tilting my head back on the pillow. 

“Are you alright, my love?” He murmurs in my ears.

I nod, reaching up to wrap my arms around his neck. “Keep going,” I whisper.

He kisses my neck, his sharp teeth grazing the skin and then he begins to move against me at a steady rhythm. I mewl at first from how intense it all feels. There a slight sting that eventually fades into a wonderful, burning ache that I find I cannot get enough of.

“Sarah,” he growls in my ear as he moves against me faster and faster.

I wrap my legs instinctively around his waist, pushing into him as much as I can. I’m close, so very close and then in one swift motion he moves us over so that I’m now on top of him, straddling him. From this angle I feel him inside me with even more intensity. My mouth forms a perfect O but no sound comes out as he pushes his hips up, inserting himself in me as deep as he can go.

“Jareth,” I gasp, falling forward towards his chest, but he stops me, pushing me back up to sitting.

“No, Sarah,” he says. “Let me look at you.”  


His eyes trail down from my own to my lips, down my neck and a he hesitates he gaze awhile on my breasts. I blush under his attentions. He reaches out and cups one of my breasts in each hand and begins to knead them in his grip and I sigh from the pleasure, my eyes fluttering closed.

Then I feel him pinch my nipples— _hard._ I cry out, my eyes shooting open. He shoots me his mischievous goblin grin. 

“Eyes open, precious Sarah,” he says. “I want you to look at me.”  


“Okay,” I whisper. I am completely undone in his hands, I can do nothing but obey. I _want_ to do nothing but obey.

He smiles and slides his hands down to hold onto my hips. “Move with me, Sarah.”

I do as he says and begin to shift my hips back and forth, the pressure of him inside me growing much more intense than before. My mouth opens again as a silent moan escapes and he chuckles from amusement and pleasure as he moves with me. He slides his hands down to grasp my ass as our movements grow faster, our hunger for each other not yet sated. 

When I’m so, so close he shoots up to sitting and wraps his arms tightly around my back, one cradling the back of my head. “Keep looking at me,” he whispers.

I nod and keep my eyes open, gazing into his, getting lost in his, _drowning_ in his. His stare is an ocean with waves that crash and drag me down below the surface. I don’t know if I’d ever long to breath again if dying feels this good. 

As I reach the edge of the cliff he thrusts into me as deep as he can and I scream as he tips me over. I let the orgasm crash through me, collapsing in his arms and shaking. He holds me close and gently lowers us back down to the bed. He pulls the blankets over us and wraps me in his embrace, plating a tender kiss to my temple.

The stars begin to come out to clutter and coat the night sky, and the underground crystal moon shines in through his balcony window. 

“Why me?” I murmur softly, my head resting on his chest.

“What a silly question,” he says as he begins to run his fingers through my hair and then trails his hand down my neck to trace circles and patterns on my back, sending a fresh wave of sensation through my body. 

“No it’s not,” I insist. “I was just a hysterical teenage girl when you first met me.”

He shifts up to prop himself on one arm so that he can gaze down at me. He reaches a hand out to tuck a lock of hair behind my ear.

“A girl is not hysterical because she is emotional and you were never _just_ anything, Sarah. You have _always_ been everything. Tell me, deep down, in the darkest corners of your mind, the winding paths of your heart, you knew the owl was me. You’ve known all along what you wanted and you dreamed it into existence. You believed in yourself enough to bring it all to fruition. That is not _just_ hysterics, and you are not _just_ any girl. You’re _you._ The Champion of the Labyrinth. Wonderful, disturbingly brilliant, insufferably stubborn, staggeringly beautiful Sarah. You are _mine.”  
_

I should tell him that people don’t belong to people. But he and I both know that isn’t true. I am his, and he is mine. It was always meant to be this way. 

I reach up to trace my finger along the outline of his mouth, he sighs against my touch, his hand dipping down to trace more patterns across my collarbone. I shiver and sigh as well from the feel of his forever electrifying skin. 

“You love me,” I whisper.

He nods. “ _Yes_ , Sarah. love you.”

I smile, tears in my eyes, every emotion in the whole wide, beautiful world above and below coursing through me. I run my fingers through his hair and tug him down to bring his mouth to mine. The kiss is softer, sweeter, more tender than before. It is a different kind of passion now. More than physical, this is no longer just between our bodies, but between our souls. 

When we break the kiss he opens his eyes to gaze down at me once more. I can see every star in the universe within his eyes. 

“Stay with me,” he says, his voice is pleading. I’ve never heard it like this before. It’s startling. “Let me take care of you. Let me be there for you.”

“Jareth,” I whisper. “I…” my voice trails off and gets lost in the night.

He drags his hand down to cup behind my neck, holding me firmly in place. I do not resist. I never want to resist him again.

“Sarah, just say yes. Choose what _you_ want for once. Be _selfish_. Be _mine_.”

A tear slides down my cheek and he gently brushes it away. I sit up a bit to press my mouth to his again; lightly, wonderfully. I break the kiss and whisper against his mouth.

“Okay. I’m yours.”


	6. Evening by evening Among the Brookside rushes,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You are cruel, Sarah. We are well matched, you and I. I need your cruelty, just as you need mine."
> 
> -The Labyrinth by A.C.H. Smith

I wake up to an empty bed and a still midnight sky. This doesn’t make any sense? Have I slept through an entire day? And where is Jareth? I start to panic. He’s abandoned me. He got what he always wanted and apparently the _only_ thing he wanted and has now left me to rot in the Goblin City. He always said he could be cruel, perhaps this is the pinnacle.

My descent into panic is shattered as he reenters the room from an alcove across the room that I hadn’t noticed before. He’s wearing a towel wrapped around his waist and nothing else. I swallow a lump in my throat. His blonde hair is slightly damp and the water droplets seem to glisten off his skin. I feel my stomach heat up just looking at him.

“Hello, my love.”

_My love._ The words flow so easily from his mouth. It is so easy to believe them.

“Why are the stars still out?”

He glances at the open balcony door. “The stars shine much longer Underground than above. Nights can last the equivalent of days and days. It’s beautiful in a way.” He looks out the window wistfully. “And tragic.”

“Tragic?”

He turns back to look at me, a sad sort of smile dances across his lips. 

“One can grow weary of so much darkness.”

“Then move the stars around to make the sky shine brighter.”  


His sad smile changes to a sly smirk as he stalks across the room to me, slowly climbing onto the bed and crawling on hands and knees over me until he towers over me, caging me in. 

“Precious thing,” he murmurs, “I move the stars for no one.”  


“Liar,” I whisper as he dips down closer to me and my stomach is practically set aflame with newfound desire for him. “You did for me.”

He smiles again then lunges forward and captures my mouth in a searing kiss. I open my mouth immediately and he moves his tongue inside, roaming through my mouth as he flattens himself against me and I feel him between my legs. I moan into his mouth and he growls in response. His primal desire is both frightening and exhilarating. 

He breaks the kiss, pulling away only slightly. “Come, darling. You must get dressed.”

“For what.”  


He climbs off of me so that he’s standing again, except his towel has fallen off in the jostling and he stands unabashedly naked before me. I do my best not to blush when he turns to face me and I can see _all_ of him.

“For the ball. It will be far more splendid than last time.”  


I prop myself up on my elbows. “Last time? But that wasn’t…” my voice trails off as I take in his mischievous, all too knowing smile.

“Wasn’t what, Sarah? Real?” He clucks his tongue in mock disapproval. “You above all people should know that dreams have power here.” He holds his hand out between us and with a flick of his wrist he’s holding a peach. My stomach drops at the familiar sight. “Care for a bite.”  


“Will it…make me forget?”

“No, no. Not this time.” He leans down to hold it before me. “Just as the ones in the orchard, this is only meant to be sweet.”

“Meant to be or _is?_ ”

He chuckles and then takes a bite of the peach himself and begins to chew. I relent and start to lean forward to take a bite myself, but he reaches out and wraps a hand around the back of my neck and pulls my mouth against his. He opens his mouth against mine and lets the sweet juice from the peach drip down my throat like honey. I gasp softly, slightly startled, but then let my throat relax and let the liquid run down.

He pulls away and licks his lips all while holding my gaze. “How wonderful you are, Sarah.” He moves to head out the door. “Your dress is in the other room, meet me in the ballroom as soon as you’re dressed.”

“I don’t know the way.”  


“Of course you do, Sarah. You’ve been there before.”

* * *

Jareth was right, it’s easy to find the ballroom. Somehow my feet know the way even if my mind doesn’t. I’m now standing outside the large, ornate doors, the rioting butterflies returned once again. I look down at my dress again, a deep indigo blue with individual sequins of every color lining the bodice. The same color as the jacket he wore in my dream that wasn’t a dream. 

The knowledge that we did truly share that dance together all those years ago changes everything. Makes what he says he feels for me seem more _real_ somehow. What was it he’d said in what I’d thought was a dram? _I’ll be there for you when the world falls down._

The world has felt like it was falling down around me every day before and since then. Always ignored. Deemed hysterical and overly sensitive. Never quite good enough at anything that anyone would deem ‘important’ and not confident enough in the things that made me happy. I was and always have been so horribly and achingly lonely. The night I spent in the Labyrinth was the first and only time that it was different. I had friends. I had attention. I had _him._

I take a deep breath. “Courage, Sarah,” I whisper to myself. Then I enter the ballroom.

I inhale sharply in awe. It’s exactly as I remembered it, but this time there’s no fuzzy peachy hue to it; I’m seeing it in screaming, wonderful color. I descend the grand staircase and cross the dance floor. Last time I floundered helplessly looking for him, but this time my feet once again know the way. I find him in the center of the floor, bodies spinning all around, waiting for me.

“Well, well,” he says with his incessant smirk, “look who remembered the way.”

I smile and step towards him. In one fluid moment he wraps me up in my arms and we begin to dance as we did back then. We glide across the floor like we’re floating. His eyes never leave mine. The music fills my ears and my soul and I feel my heart soar as we spin around, his arms against my body, my dress swishing against my legs.

I can see the whole wide wonderful world in his eyes. Such intense eyes. I did see them in the owl. He’s right. A part of me always knew, I was just too afraid to admit it before. I’m not now. Here, in the Underground again, I’m finally brave enough to be selfish.

As the music shift again to a more fast-paced song, I lean into him and whisper in his ear. “Can we go someplace more quiet?”

He nods and leads me through the ballroom, weaving our way amongst the sparkling bodies all around us, until we emerge through a grand set of glass doors and out into a beautiful garden, the constant stars still shinning down.

He holds onto my hand still as he leads me to the center of the garden where there is a small bench to sit on. We settle down onto it, his eyes are still fixed on me.

“Did you mean it?” I ask, my voice soft against the never ending night air.

He reaches out and gently pushes a lock of hair behind my ear. “Did I mean what?”

“That you love me?”

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes,” my voice is nothing but a whisper now.

A brief look of sadness crosses his brow but is gone as quickly as it appeared. He leans in and places a gentle kiss on my forehead. “Yes, precious thing,” he whispers as he rests his forehead against mine. He slips a hand up to cup the back of my neck, keeping me steady—keeping me against him. “I meant it.” He pulls back, his hand still on my neck, his eyes on me again. “If you stay with me I can give you everything you ever wanted. Your dreams.”  


“What dreams are those.”  


He says nothing. We both know the answer. 

_To be seen._

_To be loved._

“And what of your dreams?” I ask. “What are they made up of?”  


“You.”

I inhale sharply and softly. The shock of that one simple little word rushing through me.

“I dreamed of you before I knew you and I dreamed of you long after. I’m lonely too, Sarah. I know what it feels like to be alone. To feel unloved. To feel _too much._ You are as wicked as me sometimes, and you know it. That is okay, no one can be all good all of the time. But I suspect that that is what has been excepted of you. Never allowed the room to feel all the sadness you so clearly posses.”

“I…” my voice gets lost in the night. I have never been read this clearly before. And I had never thought that I would. “I’ve been alone for so long.”  


“As have I. Stay with me. _Be_ with me and you will never have to be alone again. I will never force you to be happy. I will never force you to be calm. Or settled. Or satisfied. I will be there for _you,_ entirely.”

“And what do you ask in return?”  


“So very little. Just let me rule you.”  


“You have no power over me,” I say as firmly as I can.

“Then let me,” he insists. “Submit to me. Be mine.”  


“People don’t belong to people.”  


He smirks and leans into kiss me again, his mouth still tastes of peaches. “What a beautiful liar you are, my love. You’ve been mine ever since the first time we danced together all those years ago.”

He kisses me again, swallowing up my breath with each tactful press of his lips to mine.

“And what of you?” I gasp as he moves away from my mouth and begins to trail kisses and gentle bites down the column of my throat.

“What of me, darling?”  


“Do you belong to me.”  


He straightens up again and settles his eyes on me yet again. His gaze as penetrating as ever.

“Of course.”  


“Truly?” I whisper.

He nods once. “Truly.”

“Okay,” I say, reaching up and gently placing a hand over his heart. 

He leans in again and kisses my neck once more. “Do you fear me, Sarah?”

“Yes,” I gasp as he bites down on my shoulder.

“Love me?”  


I hesitate for a moment and he bites down harder. I cry out.

“Answer me.”  


“Yes,” I breathe, and it is the truth. 

“Say it again,” he murmurs as he kisses up my neck once more, making his way back to my mouth. 

I reach up and take his face in my hands, turning him to face me. My eyes boring into his first this time. “I love you.” The words are confident on my tongue this time.

I see a genuine look of joy in his eyes. “Will you do as I say?”

“Yes.”  


He kisses me once more. “Then I will be your slave.”


	7. Buy from us with golden curl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I am not a saint. I am a sinner and I want to sin again and again."
> 
> -Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

We practically crash back into Jareth’s bedroom, our hands tearing at each other’s clothes, our hands desperate to feel the other’s skin beneath our fingertips. _Sarah,_ he murmurs against my mouth. I lean into him, holding onto him like he’s a railing on a balcony. Holding onto him for dear life. He tears at the buttons on my dress, sending them scattering across the stone floor, and I don’t care. I want him— _all_ I want is him. I reach out to undo his trousers and he pulls at the pins keeping my hair up. In a matter of moments we’re naked before each other and there’s no nervousness in me now, this feels right; it was always right. The stars wrote this story into being years ago, and we’ve finally reached the conclusion. The denouement. This is a dance in it’s final movement. A song in it’s final cadence. This is the home I was always meant to have. In his arms.

We don’t even make it to the bed, we go toppling down to the stone floor and he pulls me on top of him. I straddle him with more ease this time, his body is a map I am learning to memorize, and now that I’ve chosen, I will have all the time in the world to learn every corner of it. 

He wraps his hands firmly around my hips and I begin to move back and forth, my body and his creating the motion of the sea.

“Sarah,” he groans. 

I lean down and place my palms flat on the stone floor on either side of his head. “Jareth,” I whisper. 

He smiles at me and it the most honest, and beautiful sight in the world. He tilts his head up and kisses me, the taste of peaches somehow still fresh on his lips. I think I want to die kissing him. A life lead in his arms and he in mine.

“Be with me,” he murmurs against my mouth.

“I will,” I say.

“Forever,” he begs.

“Forever,” I answer.

We move against each other faster, wilder. He never gets on top of me, he lets me lead us into this dark night, into this unknown. And when we finish I see stars; dozens and dozens of stars. 

I roll off him and he pulls a blanket off the nearby sofa and wraps us up in it, just as well for I think my legs are too weak to make it to the bed. “Did you dream of me?” He whispers in my ear, pulling my body flush against his. 

“Yes,” I say.

He kisses the back of my neck and I shiver, leaning into him further. It feels so good to give into this. To be honest with myself. To be selfish. 

“I hated it there,” I say softly. “Above. In that world. I knew I was supposed to fit in. Expected to. But I could never dull my edges enough. Never quite change my shape into something that everyone else would accept. No one ever listened to me, I felt like I was screaming from behind glass. Like I was yelling at the night sky, begging the stars to listen. But they never did.” 

I wait for him to say something but he doesn’t, he’s giving me the space to speak, the space I’ve hungered to have for so long. 

“I tried so hard to find someone who would see me, the real me, and not want me to change. But there was always something wrong with me. Too loud. Too hysterical. Too emotional. Too strange. Too odd.”

He wraps his arms tightly around my waist. “I love your emotions. I love your strangeness and your oddities. I love your loudness.” He gently kisses my neck again. “I’m sorry you spent so many years in pain.”  


I feel tears well in my eyes but not from sadness—from relief. Glorious, gratifying relief. 

“You promised me my dreams.”

“And I will give them to you, whatever you want.”  


“I want...” I whisper softly, nervously, daringly. 

“What?” He whispers back. “Tell me.”

“You are a king.”

“I am.”  


I say nothing, just let my unspoken question, my quiet request hang between us until he figures it out. The riddle I haven’t said.

He pulls me around to face him and reaches up to cup my face in his hand. 

“I am a king,” he whispers. “And I need a queen.”

I smile and he wipes away the tears on my cheeks. 

“Love me,” he commands.

I nod. “I do.”

“Be with me,” he begs.

I nod again. “I will.”  


He kisses me and whispers against my lips. “Be my queen.”

I kiss him again. “Forever?”

He nods. “Forever.”

* * *

No one in the world above ever saw Sarah Williams again. She became a tragic cold case, the topic of true crime podcasts, and then eventually her story faded away; one amongst the millions of other girls who vanish into thin air, never to be seen again.

But some told her story. Some whispered about the sight of her running through the New York City streets like a mad woman that day. Some swear they saw a man swoop in and steal her. More say that they saw her take his hand and leave willingly.

Her brother knew somehow in his heart where she had gone. He wasn’t quite sure why he knew it, but he didn't doubt it. Every night he’d look out at the stars and wonder if his sister was looking at the same ones. And on occasion he would see two owls flying by his window at night, and he knew he was not alone.

* * *

There is a legend of a lonely Goblin King.

But that legend is old.

There is a better one now. About the girl who saved him from his loneliness. A girl who ate the peach and remembered everything. The girl who solved the Labyrinth and danced among the stars. The girl who climbed into bed with the night itself and made it fall in love with her.

There is a legend of a girl who did what no one else ever could.

The girl who became the Goblin Queen.

But after all, it’s just a story.


End file.
